Unilever Sustainable Living Plan - India 2015 Progress ReportPDF
Transcript of Unilever Sustainable Living Plan - India 2015 Progress ReportPDF
HIGHLIGHTSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
IMPROVING HEALTHAND WELL-BEING
Reducing Environmental Impact
Enhancing livelihoods
65 million>people reached through LifebuoyHandwashing Programme
litres of safe drinking waterprovided by Pureit in India, till date
70 Billion>
30,000toilets in Indian households
DTA has helped build over
1,60,000people have been impactedthrough Domex Toilet Academy (DTA)
Approximately
100% of our children’s Frozen Dessertsand Edible Ice ‘Paddle Pop’ portfolioin India contains 110 kilocaloriesor fewer per portion
100%tomatoes, used in Kissan Ketchup, sourced from sustainable sources
398tea estates certified as sustainable estatesby Rainforest Alliance and Trustea in India
200 Billionlitres of water conservation potential createdby Hindustan Unilever Foundation partnerships
>
reductions in
manufacturing
48%in water usage
42%in CO emissions2
1
in disposed waste
92%>
¹ Per tonne of production in India – against the baseline of 2008
1,38,000people benefitted fromPrabhat’s programmes
Shakti Ammas
Shaktimaans
70,00048,000
Project Shaktinetwork has empowered nearly
2 lakhyouth benefitted throughRin Career Ready Academy
>
02
REDUCE DIARRHOEAL AND RESPIRATORY DISEASE
THROUGH HANDWASHING
Our Lifebuoy handwashing behaviour change initiatives help us
in promoting the benefits of handwashing with soap at key
times among people and encouraging them to sustain good
handwashing behaviour. Till date, we have reached over 65
million people in India through our handwashing behaviour
change programmes.
Help a Child Reach 5
2Every year, in India alone, 1.3 million children die before they
reach the age of five, many due to preventable infections. Over
40% of these deaths occur in the neonatal period (first 28 days
after delivery), when children are most vulnerable. Washing
hands with soap before a mother touches her baby is proven to
prevent many of these deaths. We are teaching mothers this
lifesaving habit through our ‘Help A Child Reach 5’ programme.
The Lifebuoy ‘Help a Child
Reach 5’ on-ground
handwashing
behaviour change
programme was
started in 2013 in
Thesgora, a village
in Madhya Pradesh
that has one of the
highest rates of child
diarrhoea in India. This
programme created a
significant impact, with mothers
reporting reduction in incidence of
diarrhoea from 36% to 5%, and 26% more
children washing their hands before meals. During the same
year, we piloted the handwashing programme in two districts
of Bihar – Begusarai and Khagaria, reaching out to nearly
one million people in partnership with Bihar government and
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).
We scaled up the programme to cover more districts in Bihar
and reach out to more number of people. This time, Lifebuoy
took its message to new mothers, building awareness and
improving hand hygiene habits during the crucial first
28 days after delivery, when mothers and their babies
need it the most. As a part of this campaign in Bihar, around
600 health promoters trained by us visit government rural
primary schools in Bihar four times in a 21-day period to
engage with students. In 2015 alone, over four lakh children
were covered under the programme, while since inception,
the programme has reached over six lakh children. Over the
Millions of people still lack access to effective
hygiene, safe drinking water and nutritious food. We
are uniquely placed to help mitigate such challenges.
With our portfolio of health and well-being brands,
wide reach and expertise in consumer behaviour
change, we can drive demand for improved facilities
and provide cost-effective solutions. We also have
deep insights into what motivates people and
overcomes barriers. We use this information to
develop behaviour change model and promote new
behaviours that help people to adopt habits which will
keep them and their families healthy.
Our approach has been to sell products with strong
and tangible health, hygiene and nutrition benefits,
encourage people to take action through behaviour
change programmes and work with the right partners
dedicated to health, hygiene and nutrition, to broaden
our impact.
In the area of health and hygiene, through our WASH
(water, sanitation, and hygiene) initiatives we focus on
behaviour change programmes. Some of our home
and personal care brands like Lifebuoy (handwashing
programme), Domex (improved sanitation) and Pureit
(providing safe drinking water) spearhead these
behaviour change programmes across India. Our
efforts in the area of health and hygiene have, so far,
reached over 125 million people in India.
HEALTH & HYGIENE
2 ‘Levels & Trends in Child Mortality (2014), UNICEF.
03
Our approach to nutrition keeps consumers at the
heart of everything we do. We offer great-tasting
products made with ingredients that are increasingly
sourced sustainably and provide choice across our
range with products that are lower in calories, saturated
fat and salt. Our nutrition and innovation programmes
ensure that we improve nutritional profiles further
without compromising on taste or quality.
IMPROVING HEALTH & WELL-BEINGUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
next three years, 45 million people are expected to benefit
through this programme in partnership with CIFF and
Government of Bihar.
To support the behaviour change campaign, we launched a
film ‘Chamki’ that showcases the emotional journey of a
pregnant woman who is excited at the prospect of being a
mother. Her excitement is contrasted with the agony and
doubt about her child’s survival post birth. She ponders
whether her child will survive or will meet the fate of those
other children in her village who succumbed to diarrhoea
and pneumonia in the first few weeks of their birth. The film
has received 14 million views on YouTube and has been the
most viewed advertisement on YouTube in 2015. You can
watch the film here.
Global Handwashing Day (GHD)
Like every year, last year too Global Handwashing Day (GHD)
brought our employees together to spread the message on
importance of handwashing habits among school children.
This year we reached out to over two lakh children across 125
schools in seven cities of India. Over 2,000 HUL employees
across factories and offices took time off to spend a day with
school children to create awareness about handwashing.
PROVIDING SAFE DRINKING WATER
The lack of safe drinking water is a major public health issue,
particularly in developing countries like India. Our Pureit
water purifiers make safe water accessible and affordable for
millions. Globally, so far, Pureit has cumulatively provided 78
billion litres of safe drinking water.
Pureit’s most affordable range of purifiers provides safe
drinking water at a running cost of just 30 paise per litre,
without the hassles of boiling, without the need of electricity
or a continuous tap water supply. In India, Pureit has provided
over 70 billion litres of safe drinking water till date.
We have also been partnering with existing micro-finance
institutions (MFIs) to make water purifiers more accessible
for people at the bottom of the pyramid. In 2015, the Pureit
Partnerships extended their footprint to new geographies
such as Punjab and continued to provide safe drinking
water to low income households in Kerala, Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka.
IMPROVING ACCESS TO SANITATION
Domex Toilet Academy (DTA):
The World Bank has estimated that
poor sanitation costs India $53.8
billion a year – equivalent to
6.4 per cent of the country’s 3GDP . It is evident that
access to sanitation is
extremely important for
the social, physical and
economic well-being of
our society.
Domex Toilet Academy is our
market-based, entrepreneurial
model that provides people access to
sanitation in rural communities. In partnership with the
social enterprise eKutir and NGO Population Services
International (PSI), the DTA programme trains
entrepreneurs and masons to supply, install and maintain
toilets for local households; builds supply chains for
sanitation hardware; provides access to micro-financing and
creates demand for sanitation in underserved communities.
The objective is to reduce the incidence of open defecation
and improve proper sanitation thereby promoting the
adoption of healthy, hygienic habits.
04
3 http://www.wsp.org/featuresevents/features/inadequate-sanitation-costs-
india-equivalent-64-cent-gdp
“Now, my child washes his hands before his meal every day and also tells us to
wash our hands.” Meeta Devi (36)
Mother of twelve
year old child in
Samasthipur, Bihar
2 LAKH>children across 125 schools
in 7 cities on Global
Handwashing Day 2015
Reached
IMPROVING HEALTH & WELL-BEINGUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
Till date, DTA has trained 255 micro-entrepreneurs. DTA
has helped build over 30,000 toilets in Indian households as
reported by our partners PSI and eKutir. This has
benefitted an estimated 1,60,000 people in four states –
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar.
Swachh Aadat, Swachh Bharat
We launched ‘Swachh Aadat, Swachh Bharat’ programme
in line with Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
(Clean India Mission) to promote good health and hygiene
practices. Given the scale of challenges that India faces in
the areas of WASH, this programme is an effort to help
India realise the goals of Clean India Mission by 2019.
This programme promotes good health and hygiene
practice by stressing the need to adopt three simple good
habits (‘Swachh Aadat’) – washing hands five times a day,
using a toilet for defecation and adopting safe drinking
water practices.
The Swachh Aadat, Swachh Bharat programme has three
key thrusts: An on-ground behaviour change model, a
mass media campaign to drive engagement and awareness
and mobile education on health and hygiene led by our
factory workers.
Swachh Basti – on-ground behaviour change model
In 2015, we piloted a behaviour change model in the slums
of Mumbai and Delhi. The programme was undertaken with
support of municipal corporations to reach out to students
in municipal schools where a four-week behaviour change
programme was conducted through engaging activities like
skits, demos and jingles. This programme also covered
mothers and other stakeholders in the local community
such as doctors and support groups to create awareness
and develop champions within schools and the community.
Till date, two lakh people have been reached through
multiple engagement points like school contact programme,
home-to-home programme and neonatal programme.
‘Swachh Aadat’ mass media campaign
A mass media campaign – “Haath, Munh aur Bum, Bimari
Hogi Kum” was launched to promote awareness across the
country. Through this campaign children turn into agents of
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“When a student does a creative
activity it gets rooted in their mind and
they remember it for longer time.”
Siddhi Chavan
Teacher in Sainath
Nagar Municipal School,
Ghatkopar, Mumbai
change and propagate the adoption of three ‘Swachh
Aadatein’ (clean habits). Till date, the campaign has reached
75 million people through television and press coverage. It
has received more than 20 million views on YouTube. You can
view the campaign video here.
Swacchata Doot (Messenger Of Cleanliness)
This is a mobile-led rural behaviour change communication
model wherein HUL’s factory workers become agents of
behaviour change in their villages by sharing two minute
audio stories on clean habits through their mobile phones.
They reach out to school children, parents and community
members thereby positively impacting rural communities.
We have successfully completed a pilot that has reached
2,00,000 people.
IMPROVE SELF-ESTEEM
At Dove, we believe no girl should be held back from reaching
her full potential. However, anxiety over appearance keeps
girls from being their best selves, affecting their health,
friendships, and even performance at school. For more than
10 years, we’ve been helping young people with self-esteem
education, reaching over three lakh people so far. The main
contributors to our success have been our partnership with
the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
(WAGGGS) and scaling our digital presence in spreading
awareness to build self-esteem among girls.
IMPROVING HEALTH & WELL-BEINGUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
HIGHEST NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS
We continuously work to improve the taste and nutritional
quality of our products using globally recognised dietary 4standards. In 2015, globally 34% of our portfolio met the
highest nutrition standards, whereas in India, 46% of our
total food and refreshment portfolio met the highest
nutrition standards.
REDUCE SALT LEVELS
In 2015, globally, 60% of our Foods portfolio (by volume) and
in India 69% of the Indian Foods portfolio (by volume) was
compliant to 5g salt per day target.
REMOVE TRANS FAT
In 2015, both globally as well as in India, 100% of our
portfolio was virtually free from trans fats originating from 5partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO). We undertake
regular reviews of our products to ensure that we continue to
be compliant. If products with trans fat originating from
PHVO are found then they are reformulated.
REDUCE CALORIES – CHILDREN'S ICE CREAM
By 2015, globally, 100% of our children’s ice creams, and in
India, 100% of our children’s Frozen Desserts & Edible Ice
‘Paddle Pop’ portfolio contained 110 kilocalories or fewer
per portion.
REDUCE CALORIES – PACKAGED ICE CREAM
Our commitment stated that by 2015, 80% of our packaged
ice cream products will not exceed 250 kilocalories per 6portion . We have over-achieved on the 2015 target, 91%
products globally meet this level, whereas in India 98% of
packaged ice-creams meet this level.
4 Independently assured by PWC.
5 We have published our definition and approach to removing trans fats from
partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. See: Melnikov S & Zevenbergen H.
"Implementation of removing trans fatty acids originating from partially
hydrogenated vegetable oils". New Food 2012; 5: 44-46. This approach
focuses on main ingredients in our recipes and does not include traces of
trans fats from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil that may be found in
some flavours or emulsifiers.6 A portion is defined as: a pre-packed single-serve ice cream product meant
to be consumed in one go or 100 ml when sold in packaging aimed at multi-
consumption moments such as tubs.7 5 % of this increase vs 2014 results from changes to the definition of relevant
nutrition labelling as described in our updated global approach to nutrition
labelling on www.unilever.com.8 Where applicable and legally allowed in accordance with local or regional
industry agreements.
NUTRITION
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100%of our children’s Frozen Desserts
& Edible Ice ‘Paddle Pop’
portfolio in India contains 110
kilocalories or fewer per portion
PROVIDE HEALTHY EATING INFORMATION
Our aim is to provide clear, simple labelling on our products
to help consumers make choices for a nutritionally balanced
diet. We are committed to include energy per portion on the
front of packs, plus eight key nutrients and percentage
Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) for five nutrients on the
back of packs.
Our targets respect local or regional industry agreements as
well as the law in each market.
7In 2015, globally 86% of our portfolio carried the full
labelling on pack and 96% carried the nutrition information 8on pack or online. In India, as a part of GDA labelling , 78% of
our products have full labelling on the pack which included
energy per portion information on the front of the pack and
percentage GDA for five nutrients on the back of the pack.
Nearly 99% of our portfolio carried the nutrition information
table on the back of pack in compliance with local legislation.
IMPROVING HEALTH & WELL-BEINGUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM
OUR MANUFACTURING
We continue to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of
manufacturing. In 2015, we have reduced CO emissions per 2
tonne of production by 42% compared to 2008.
This reduction has been achieved through multiple initiatives
to reduce energy supported by 4% increase in share of
renewable energy in 2015 compared to 2014. As a result,
25% of energy requirement in manufacturing units was met
with renewable resources.
Several initiatives rolled out by our units to conserve energy
include increase in biogenic fuel firing in boilers and hot air
generators by 11% (in tonnes of biomass) in 2015 compared to
2014, heat recovery from gasses generated from boilers and
hot air generators, installation of LED, solar powered lights
and wind turbo ventilators for raw materials and finished
goods ware-houses, day-light harvesting and energy audits
for continuous improvement.
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
FROM TRANSPORT
Innovative and strategic changes in the logistics network have
changed the way we look at distribution. We have redesigned
our networks, and increased direct despatch from factories to
customers. In a first of its kind initiative in Unilever Asia, we
have successfully installed 100 kilowatt solar panel at
Chennai distribution centre. This initiative was supported by
installation of solar panels and LED lights at our warehouses
which we estimate will help save 60,000 trees every year and
reduce our carbon footprint by 130 tonnes.
We have also addressed truckload management by
centralizing our transport operations at Bangalore,
deploying leading edge technology - OTM (Oracle
Transport Manager); and implementing Design to
Distribute project across all categories.
Our Design to Distribute project focuses on realigning
product packs, changing their case configuration and
design to optimise the space utilised for loading and
packing. This has increased truck utilisation by 200 bps
and reduced kilometres travelled. We have also
redesigned our secondary packaging, which has reduced
gross weight of products that are loaded onto trucks.
These initiatives have resulted in over 2% reduction in
CO emissions from our logistics network in 2015.2
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
FROM REFRIGERATION
We have continued to roll out environment friendly
freezer cabinets that use hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants.
There are currently 43,000 freezers with HC technology
in our fleet in India.
We have significantly reduced our environmental
footprint in areas of greenhouse gases, water and
waste across our manufacturing locations and other
offices. In our manufacturing operations, we have
achieved the zero waste to landfill target in all our
factories last year. Our carbon emission per tonne of
production has consistently reduced year-on-year. Our
approach to reduce, reuse and recycle has led to
reduction in water usage across our factories.
In addition, we have identified water as a priority area
and through Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF), we
are working with partners to conserve water and
enhance farm-based livelihoods across the
communities and villages in India. So far, HUF in
partnership with communities, NGOs and government
bodies has created 200 billion litres of water
conservation potential. We are sharing our knowledge
and expertise in sustainable agriculture practices with
a number of small holder farmers across India, to drive
sustainable farm practices and enabling the farmers to
become more competitive.
This is how we are making our entire value chain
sustainable. The value chain approach has not only
reduced risk, but has presented us with astonishing
opportunities for growth. This approach is central to
achieving our goal to halve the environmental footprint
of the making and use of our products, by 2030, as we
grow our business.
GREENHOUSE GASES
07
100KILOWATT
solar panelsat Chennai
Distribution Centre
60,000trees saved every year
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
Estimated
water; identifying dry areas in shop-floor; recovery and
reuse of process condensate water; and using
Effluent Treatment Plant(ETP) treated water
instead of fresh water for ETP chemical slurry
preparation.
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER FOUNDATION
According to estimates, by 2030 the supply
of water in India will be half its demand. In
2010, we established the Hindustan
Unilever Foundation (HUF), our Section 25,
not-for-profit organisation. HUF is helping
to shape the debate on agricultural water
management and water security. The impact of
HUF’s collective actions is expected to generate a
cumulative water conservation potential of
500 billion litres.
So far, HUF has initiated projects across 54 districts in nine
states and two Union Territories located across 11 river
basins in India.
The water conservation programme has achieved the
following benefits for the communities till date:
• Water conservation: Cumulative and collective water
potential of 200 billion litres has been created
• Crop yield: HUF projects have generated
agriculture production of 1.5 lakh tonnes.
• Person days: These projects have generated more
than 20 lakh person days of employment.
• Capacity building: We have trained over one lakh people in
water conservation activities, better agricultural practices
and other related issues.
REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN OUR OFFICES
Some of the energy reduction initiatives in our offices include
installation of solar panels on terraces to provide electricity
to office area and power to streetlights; retrofit fluorescent
lamps with LED lamps and pull cord switches for office
lighting; dedicated chiller for after-office hour operation of
certain blocks for optimum loading; installation of split units
at guest rooms for managing lean occupancy; and usage of
occupancy sensors at guest floor corridors. These initiatives
have helped in reducing cost and making our offices
environment friendly.
REDUCE EMPLOYEE TRAVEL
Video conferencing and tele-presence facilities were
effectively implemented to ease travel requirements of our
employees thereby reducing the impact of employee travel on
the environmental footprint. In 2015, over 5,000 meetings
were held making use of the tele-presence facility.
08
REDUCING WATER USE IN OUR
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Water usage (cubic meter per tonne of production) in our
manufacturing operations has reduced by 48% compared to
2008 baseline.
We have been able to reduce our water usage by regular
metering, monitoring and controlling of utilities consumption
at all our manufacturing sites. Some of the other initiatives
include better runtime strategies for lesser usage of cleaning
Dr Pooran C Pandey
Executive Director,
United Nations Global
Compact Network India
“HUF projects truly validate therole played by community-levelinstitutions in the management
and governance of waterresources. The Collective ActionFramework of HUF is a unique
way to identify and analyseco-created impacts as itenhances stakeholder
relationships and governancemechanisms at local level.”
200 BILLIONLITRES
Water potential of
created through HUF
20 lAKHperson days of employment
These projects havegenerated more than
Water
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
REDUCE WASTE FROM OUR MANUFACTURING
In 2015, there was over 92% reduction in disposed waste
generated (kg per tonne of production) and 30% reduction in
total waste generated (disposed waste and recycled waste)
compared to 2008 baseline.
This was achieved through captive usage of organic process
waste as biogenic fuel in boilers in a few of our factories;
waste segregation at source; and reduction in generation of
manufacturing wastes though site driven initiatives.
In 2015, all our manufacturing facilities
retained zero non-hazardous waste to
landfill status, a target
accomplished in 2014.
REDUCE PACKAGING
In 2015, we implemented innovative ways of reducing the
resources used for our packaging. We focused on using
lighter, stronger and better materials that have a lower
environmental impact. This led to over 10,000 tonnes of paper
and board waste reduction and over 840 tonnes of polymer
waste reduction. We have also been successful in reducing
glass wastage in foods packaging and wooden stick wastage in
ice creams.
REDUCE OFFICE WASTE
In 2015, we implemented several waste reduction initiatives
in our offices. We used organic composter to compost food
waste from canteens and dry leaves from campus. We also
engaged with government-authorised recyclers to recycle
paper waste and other solid waste. Other initiatives include
RECYCLE PACKAGING
We are working in partnership with industry, governments
and NGOs to increase recycling and recovery rates in our
packaging. We have started using r-PET (80% recycled PET)
in our blister packs for personal care brands like Pepsodent
toothbrush and Fair & Lovely. This ensures there is an
application for newly available r-PET resin in market thereby
establishing circular economy thinking.
REUSE PACKAGING
We provide consumers with refill packs in our home and
personal care portfolio to make it
convenient for consumers to
reuse the primary pack.
09
Waste
Refill packs in
our home and
personal care
portfolio for reuse
of primary pack
> 92% reduction in
disposed waste generated30%
reduction in totalwaste generated
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
installing jet hand dryer in washroom to reduce paper
waste and installing z-towel (pull folded towels) in place
of paper towel.
SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL
All our palm derivatives are backed by RSPO (Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil) certificates. We have signed multiple
partnerships to drive market transformation, traceability of
the supply chain and commitment to halt deforestation of
palm oil trees.
SUSTAINABLE PAPER & BOARD
We have increased our volumes of sustainably sourced paper
and board for packing our products to 99% in 2015. This
paper & board has come from mills that are Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. We have decreased the
usage of paper and board by moving to low GSM (Grams per
Square Meter) alternative in cartons of certain brands like
Dove, Fair & Lovely and Pears. We have further reduced
paper usage by extending the implementation of high
performance paper grade which has helped to reduce the
layers of paper and overall consumption.
Total Paper and Board consumption has reduced from 95,000
tonnes to 80,000 tonnes over last two years (12,000 tonnes in
paper and 3,000 tonnes in board).
SUSTAINABLE SOURCING
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) project which began in
2012 between HUL and Maharashtra Government for
sustainable sourcing of tomatoes matured in 2014. In 2015,
the programme no longer required the intervention or
support of PPP which made the project self-sustaining. As a
part of this initiative, HUL provides farmers with a buy-back
guarantee for their produce. HUL also offers global and local
knowledge and expertise in sustainable agriculture practices
in tomato cultivation; this includes the latest agricultural
techniques, irrigation practices and recommendation of the
right type of seeds. Execution of good agricultural practices
and adoption of drip irrigation systems help farmers make
significant savings in water, pesticide and fertiliser, limiting
any negative impact on the environment. In fact, under this
project, all the farmers associated with one of our partners –
an established food processing company located near
Nashik, are using drip irrigation. This in turn, helps to reduce
water used in agriculture and has resulted in better yields.
Till date, we have reached out to over 5,000 smallholder
farmers who grow tomatoes on more than 7,000 acres of
land. In 2015 alone, we reached out to 3,000 smallholder
farmers who grew tomatoes on 4,000 acres of land.
10
28%>tea sourced from
sustainable sources in
India for Unilever’s brands
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
SUSTAINABLE TEA
Till date, 398 tea estates have been certified as sustainable
estates by Rainforest Alliance and trustea in India. In 2015
alone, 181 tea estates across Assam, West Bengal, Kerala
and Tamil Nadu were certified as 'Sustainable Estates'.
Out of these, 54 estates were certified on Rainforest Alliance
and the remaining 127 on Trustea in Assam, West Bengal,
Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
In 2015, over 28% of tea was sourced from sustainable
sources in India for Unilever's brands.
SUSTAINABLE FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
In 2015, we sourced 100% of tomatoes used in Kissan
ketchup from sustainable sources.
100%tomatoes, used in
Kissan Ketchup, are sourced
from sustainable sources
tea estates have been
certified as sustainable
estates by Rainforest
Alliance and trustea
in India, till date
398
IMPLEMENT UN GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON BUSINESS
AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Business can only flourish in societies in which human rights
are respected, upheld and advanced.
Our Code of Business Principles upholds the principles of
human rights and fair treatment. The Code describes the
operational standards we follow and supports our
approach to governance and corporate responsibility. It
ensures that we conduct our operations with honesty,
integrity and openness and with respect for human rights
and interests of employees.
We seek to uphold and promote human rights in three ways:
• In our operations, by upholding values and standards
• In relationships with suppliers, and
• By working through external initiatives such as the United
Nations Global Compact
Unilever’s Understanding the Responsible Sourcing Audit
(URSA) – Guide for Suppliers reinforces the principles of
human rights and labour rights for all our suppliers. In
accordance with this guide, all suppliers are expected to
adopt practices that are consistent with that of the
Company. The URSA is available on our website and can
be accessed here.
Our human rights practices assure respect for the right of
employees to freedom of association and recognition of
employees’ rights to collective bargaining, where permissible
by law. All sites in HUL are under collective bargaining
agreements. Our Code of Business Principles confirms to
International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles.
By 2020, our aim is to enhance the livelihoods of
millions of people as we grow our business. Three
commitments support our global goal to enhance
livelihoods:
• Driving fairness in the workplace – by
implementing the UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights throughout our
operations, and working with suppliers who
commit to promote fundamental human rights.
• Advancing opportunities for women.
• Developing inclusive business – by improving the
livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the
incomes of small-scale retailers, and by increasing
the participation of young entrepreneurs in our
value chain.
From our suppliers, including the thousands of
smallholder farmers growing our product
ingredients, through the network of entrepreneurs
and retailers selling our products, to the millions of
consumers using them, the breadth and depth of our
value chain gives us the opportunity to make a
significant difference.
SOURCE 100% OF PROCUREMENT SPEND IN LINE
WITH OUR RESPONSIBLE SOURCING POLICY
We are progressing well on our target to source 100% of our
procurement spend through suppliers who commit to
promote fundamental human rights as specified in our
Responsible Sourcing Policy.
Our Responsible Sourcing Policy sets mandatory
requirements on human and labour rights in business
relationships with HUL and defines a ‘continuous
improvement ladder’. We have used this to engage with all
our suppliers to progressively work towards achieving
leading practices.
CREATE FRAMEWORK FOR FAIR COMPENSATION
Compensation in India is based on guidelines issued by
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA). All factory sites and
offices are covered under CBA. We ensure that our salaries
adhere to the mandatory statutory limits and are at par with
various external industry benchmarks. This allows us to
provide compensation that is fair, just and ensures that we
retain our talent.
All our supply chain units pay wages which are well above the
statutory minimum wages as prescribed by the law. As a part
of the standard wage structure, there is also an element
called Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) which takes
inflation into consideration and compensates for the increase
in commodity prices and standard of living. VDA has been
linked to the Cost Price Index (CPI) which keeps on changing
every six months as notified by the Ministry of Labour &
Employment.
11
FAIRNESS IN THE WORKPLACE
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
resilient, energised, stay focused as well as thrive in today’s
VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world.
Nearly 4,000 employees attended Thrive workshops.
REDUCE WORKPLACE INJURIES AND ACCIDENTS
We aim to minimise workplace injuries by ensuring safety of
everyone – employees, contractors and visitors – on our
premises. Safety performance is monitored through a set of
key performance indicators and reviewed regularly by the
Company’s management committee. By end of 2015, we
achieved over 70% reduction in Total Recordable Frequency
Rate (TRFR) compared to 2008 baseline for accidents in our
factories and offices. This has been achieved through
rigorous deployment of Unilever’s global BeSafE initiatives,
implementation of advanced equipment safety standards and
adoption of DuPont Behavioural Safety methodology across
our operations.
IMPROVE EMPLOYEE HEALTH, NUTRITION
AND WELL-BEING
Our Lamplighter employee programme was implemented a
decade ago to improve nutrition, fitness and mental
resilience of employees. A dedicated Medical & Occupational
Health (M&OH) Team along with the Human Resource
department of the company has strategically developed this
programme to address the wide-ranging health risks in
employees of the company.
As part of the programme, employees are assigned colour
codes based on their health quotient. In 2015, a total of
13,287 (over 93%) employees participated in this programme.
Out of these, over 79% employees belonged to the green
category, nearly 14% employees were in the amber category
and over 6% employees belonged to the red category. In 2015,
the programme also included personal risk factors of
employees like personal history of smoking, increasing age
and family history of cardiovascular disease. This helped in
identifying additional 958 employees who will require close
monitoring and follow-up for controlling health risk factors.
The M&OH team conducted various health promotion and
protection programmes to help employees transit from red to
amber and from amber to green zones by motivating them to
make lifestyle changes. In many occasions the team provided
support and necessary treatment for employees identified in
red and amber categories.
In 2015, we added another dimension to the health and well-
being of our employees through the ‘Thrive’ programme
based on the four-pillar model identified by Unilever -
Physical, Mental, Emotional & Purposeful Well-being.
As part of this, the HR and M&OH Teams conducted Thrive
Workshops which enabled employees to become mentally
BUILD A GENDER-BALANCED ORGANISATION WITH A
FOCUS ON MANAGEMENT
The year 2015 saw a significant acceleration in leadership
commitment, organisational awareness and understanding,
capability building and innovative practices to drive
improvement in gender balance. These initiatives led to
a significant uplift in the number of women being recruited
and promoted.
Some of the key initiatives during the year:
Gender balance, diversity and inclusion practices:
• The first all-women factory: We have the first ever all-
women run factory in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) industry. The 100% women employee factory at
Haridwar is a testimony to HUL’s ‘diversity’ initiatives,
which seek to promote gender-balance and accelerate
the advancement of high-potential women talent in the
company. The final on-boarding of the all-women team
was done in December 2014. Prior to that, comprehensive
training was completed for the team to ensure smooth
transition. The training included technical classroom
sessions by an external Industrial Training Institute (ITI)
professor and four weeks of on-the-job training to ensure
business continuity. This team delivered success in the
first quarter itself, after taking over operations.
• Besides this, there is an enhanced commitment to the
comfort and safety of women on the shop floor. Right from
inclusive working policies to better infrastructure, we have
taken several steps to make our shop floors women friendly.
12
OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN
> 70% reduction in Total
Recordable Frequency Rate
(TRFR)
Achieved through Unilever’s global BeSafE
initiatives and DuPont Behavioural Safety
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
roles for them. The integrated online portal called MAPS
(Maternity and Paternity Support) helps employees and
their line managers in this period of transition through
various tools, guidance and resources. Once they join back,
we support them with mentorship as and when required.
There is also a state-of-the-art day care facility at our
Mumbai and Bangalore campuses, with trained
professionals and caregivers, nursing stations, play areas,
kitchens, etc.
Agile working policy
• Location Flexibility Policy: In 2015 we introduced this policy
for women who need to “trail their spouses career” for
short periods of time. 12 women employees have
benefitted from this policy.
• Work from home, flexi-hours and part time/reduced hours
policy (including a job share policy) are some of the other
initiatives introduced as part of agile working culture.
These policies are supported with technology and office
infrastructure by the Company.
Workplace facilities
Our Head Office at Mumbai has Bru World Cafe (coffee shop),
Knorr counter (which serves Knorr meals, Kwality Wall's
Happiness Station (which serves Kwality Wall's ice creams),
U-shop (which sells HUL products for employees), a florist,
gymnasium, Squash court, banking facilities etc. besides the
day care facility.
• Our shop floors have separate restrooms for women,
changing rooms, female security guards, transport facility
and above all a day care facility for employees’ children.
Sessions on sexual harassment and female safety are
regularly conducted across locations.
• Gender balance council: The Council comprises of cross-
functional, impactful mid-senior managers nominated by
the management committee and function heads. The
council is instrumental in driving the diversity and
inclusion agenda which we refer to as Winning Balance
agenda across the organisation.
• Recognising inclusive role model leaders: Leaders from
various functions like R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing, Sales,
Finance, IT are recognised for creating a trusting and
supportive work environment for the team, adopting agile
and virtual ways of working and leading inclusively.
Career transition policies and practices
• Career by Choice programme: We have a unique career
comeback programme that provides a platform for women
looking for opportunities to work flexibly. In 2015, there
were 26 women talent associated with us under this
programme across functions.
• Career Break Policy: The facility of a career break is
available to all managers of the Company. Such break can
be availed for duration of up to five years in total for many
reasons including maternity, higher study, sabbatical,
adoption etc.
• Strengthened Maternity and Paternity Support
Programmes: We have best-in-class maternity and
paternity leave policy – paid six-month maternity leave and
two week paternity leave. In addition to this, we support
our employees who are going on maternity leave by holding
13
PROMOTE SAFETY FOR WOMEN IN COMMUNITIES
WHERE WE OPERATE
We aim to improve safety for women and girls in our
operations and the communities where we operate including
in our extended supply chain. We do this through awareness,
engagement and capacity building for women and men. We
have focused on putting new measures in place through
awareness-raising and training on sexual harassment and
gender-based violence and strengthened grievance
mechanisms. The results of our work in 2015 show that
substantial improvements have been made.
Affirmative action and prevention of sexual harassment
We have a policy on affirmative action and a policy on
prevention of sexual harassment to ensure a harassment-
free workspace for our employees. Sexual harassment cases
are dealt as per the policy on prevention of sexual
harassment and the Code of Business Principles. All our
employees are communicated on regular basis on the various
aspects of prevention of sexual harassment at work through
e-articles and other means of communication.
Complaint resolution
As per the requirement of the Sexual Harassment of Women
at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013,
HUL has constituted Internal Complaints Committees (ICC).
The Company has designated external independent member
as a Chairperson for each of the Committee. During the year
2015, three complaints with allegation of sexual harassment
have been filed with the Company and the same have been
processed under the provisions of the Act.
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
Awareness building
The following training programmes (web-based and physical)
were carried out to raise awareness on the issue related to
sexual harassment of women at workplace:
• A web based training module on ‘Respecting People’ was
assigned to all employees.
• All new joinees/trainees/interns were inducted on the
subject of Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act).
• In addition to this, a web-based training module on Gender
Sensitisation / Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women
at Workplace was re-assigned to identified employees.
Self-defense for women
We conducted a self-defense programme for our women
employees who have to work in the market and are often
exposed to safety threats. The programme was conducted in
three phases that covered end-to-end personal safety
paradigms starting from pre-incident phase, incident phase
to the post incident phase. A BeSafe App was launched at the
end of the workshop.
Safety at work
Employees are discouraged from working beyond 8:30 pm.
Any instances of late working are detected by the card reader
and sent to the employee's Line Manager automatically. In
unique circumstances where late working becomes
unavoidable, 1) Women are required to take a drop home
from a company approved car vendor only; 2) A male
colleague must drop the woman home, if such a car is
unavailable; 3) A woman has to call her Line Manager upon
reaching home to inform that she has reached home safely.
14
ENHANCE ACCESS TO TRAINING AND SKILLS
Our brand led programmes aim at educating the girls by
providing scholarships to deserving students.
Clinic Plus scholarship
Clinic Plus provides scholarships to girls in rural schools to
support them in completing secondary education. The ‘Clinic
Plus Scholarship’ programme aims to reduce the dropout
rate and aid the girls to build a better future. The campaign is
based on the thought that every daughter gets her strength
from her mother and how a mother plays a huge role in her
daughter's development. In 2015, the campaign awarded
scholarships to 251 girls. So far, over 700 girls have
benefitted from the programme.
Fair & Lovely scholarship
The Fair & Lovely Foundation identifies academically
exceptional girls from financially challenged backgrounds
and offers scholarships to the candidates. To maintain
integrity and fairness, the selection is done by a panel of
eminent personalities from diverse fields.
In 2015, the Foundation partnered with edX to promote
access to quality higher education and skills for women
across India. edX is a non-profit online learning destination
founded by Harvard University and MIT. The partnership will
enable HUL, via the Fair and Lovely Foundation, to launch a
portal leveraging edX’s online courses to provide a holistic,
career guidance-driven learning to enable higher
employability for young women.
Till date, the Fair & Lovely Foundation has given out more
than 1,200 scholarships to deserving applicants. In 2015
alone, the Foundation awarded scholarships to 200 girls.
EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES IN OUR VALUE CHAIN
Project Shakti
Our Shakti programme has empowered nearly 70,000 Shakti
Entrepreneurs (known as ‘Shakti Ammas’). They distribute
our products in more than 1,62,000 villages, and reach over
four million rural households. The majority of our Shakti
Ammas are earning more than Rs 1,000 a month.
In 2010, we extended Project Shakti to include ‘Shaktimaans’
who are typically husbands or brothers of Shakti Ammas who
sell our products on bicycle to surrounding villages, covering
a larger area than Shakti Ammas can cover on foot. There are
48,000 Shaktimaans in the Project Shakti network.
Rin Career Academy
Our Laundry brand Rin launched Rin Career Ready Academy
with the aim to inspire, educate and equip the youth from
modest backgrounds with skills in English training, office
dressing and interviewing. Launched in the states of Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana in June 2015, the
programme allowed all the participants to take the course by
simply giving a missed call. Mobile was the key medium for
administering the course which was provided
for free to all participants. Deserving
individuals were put up for a
more intensive face-to-face
three-week course,
designed to suit their
needs. So far, over two
lakh people have been
reached through
this programme.
Over
2 LAKHpeople reached
in India
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
15
IMPROVE LIVELIHOODS OF SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
Through our inclusive approach, we aim to benefit hundreds
of thousands of smallholder farmers whilst securing our
supply of sustainably grown crops. We aim to source our
agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Smallholders
are integral to achieving this. We help them improve
agricultural practices so they can increase their yields –
sometimes even tripling them – generating better income
and prospects for the future.
We have been associated with a number of small holder
farmers through our supplier partners, training them on
good agricultural practices like drip irrigation, nutrient
management, pest and disease management, to improve
their livelihood.
IMPROVE INCOMES OF SMALL-SCALE RETAILERS
Kwality Wall’s Vending Operations
Our Kwality Wall's mobile vending initiative, ‘I am Wall’s’,
has provided entrepreneurship opportunities to over 7,500
people across India. This programme has helped vendors to
become self-sufficient micro-entrepreneurs selling ice
creams on the move.
On an average, each vendor can make Rs 7,000-8,000 per
month. Some of our vendors have now become distributors
themselves, managing Rs 2-10 crore in the ice cream
business and earning upwards of Rs 1,00,000 per month.
INCLUSIVE BUSINESSPrabhat
‘Prabhat’ means dawn in Hindi. True to its meaning, it is our
endeavour to ring in a new dawn of development into the
lives of people living in communities around our
manufacturing sites. Through Prabhat we implement
health and hygiene, water conservation and livelihoods
initiatives which are fully aligned to the USLP
priorities. The health and hygiene programme is led
by our brands like Lifebuoy, Domex and Pureit
whereas water conservation initiative is spearheaded
by Hindustan Unilever Foundation. Our livelihood
initiatives are implemented with the help of our
partners – LabourNet, TARA (of the Development
Alternatives group) and Mann Deshi
Foundation. These implementation
partners are empanelled with
National Skill Development
Corporation, which operates under
the Ministry of Skill Development
& Entrepreneurship.
In 2015, we covered 27 HUL
manufacturing locations reaching
out to 1.38 lakh people so far
through the following initiatives:
Prabhat Livelihood Centres
There are 67 Prabhat Livelihood and Out-Reach Centres
offering 18 courses to over 11,000 beneficiaries across 16
locations. Till date, 8,555 beneficiaries who enrolled at these
centres to upgrade their skills have been certified. A total of
66% of these have already been meaningfully employed.
Nearly 84% of enrollments at these centres are women.
Sunsilk-Prabhat partnership
Sunsilk has partnered with Prabhat’s Livelihood programme
to train women in beauty and health care.
As a part of this initiative, all certified students of the Beauty
and Hair Care course at our Livelihood centres have been
given the ‘Sunsilk Life Starter Kit’ which is instrumental in
helping them train and start offering their own beauty
services immediately post certification. Till date, almost
2,000 women have benefitted from these kits.
Munmun James
“I am very thankful to HUL for providing this opportunity to
me to enroll for the beautician course at the Prabhat Skill Development Centre. After
successful completion of the course, I am now able to earn
my livelihood by providing beauty services. I want to tell
others like me to enroll for this programme and
benefit from this initiative.”
Student of Beauty & Hair
Care course from Prabhat
Skill Development Centre
at Haldia
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
Prabhat’s ‘Corporate School On Wheels’
In September 2015, we launched our first ‘Corporate School
on Wheels’ at Chiplun in Maharashtra for underprivileged
communities, especially women. These communities often do
not have access to skill enhancement or are unable to reach
the training centres due to their remote location. HUL in
collaboration with Mann Deshi Foundation has launched a
training bus that travels from village to village to train people
in financial literacy, business development, and agricultural
practices. The bus is fully customised to offer practical
sessions within the bus with labs for courses like tailoring,
computers and beauty. Post the training, beneficiaries are
linked to micro finance options to enable them to start their
own enterprise or grow their existing businesses.
By December 2015, 374 beneficiaries enrolled under this
programme, of which, 275 successfully completed the
course. A total of 56 entrepreneurs have already started their
own businesses.
With our aim to enable livelihoods of differently abled people,
we have employed 25 such people at our re-packing site at
Bangalore through an NGO, Enable-India. This is the first-of-
its-kind initiative in Unilever Asia Logistics function.
Prabhat’s Swachh (Health & Hygiene) programme
Prabhat’s Swachh initiative is aligned to the health & hygiene
pillar of the USLP and focuses on supporting communities
around our manufacturing operations to adopt good hygiene
practices. Till date, the programme has reached 29,201
people. This includes 7,820 school children and mothers who
have benefitted from our handwashing and oral hygiene
interventions. Over 21,000 beneficiaries have been impacted 9 10through Sanjivani and Ankur programmes and more than
16
1,000 families have benefitted
through installation of
215 sanitation units
under DTA.
HUL’s Swacch Aadat
Swacch Bharat in
partnership with
Prabhat implemented
the Swacchata Doot
programme wherein our
blue collared employees
reached out to their respective
communities as messengers of the three clean habits. The
pilot of the programme was immensely successful and the
programme will be launched on a full scale in 2016. To know
more about Swacchata Doot refer to page no. 03.
Prabhat’s water conservation programme
We also help to create capacities to conserve water through
HUL’s not-for-profit organisation Hindustan Unilever
Foundation with the help of our on-ground NGO partners and
community participation around our manufacturing locations.
Prabhat’s water conservation programme is currently
running across nine manufacturing locations.
Prabhat ‘Love of Reading Libraries’
Prabhat ‘Love of Reading Libraries’ programme has been
implemented in 102 schools around 26 HUL manufacturing
locations. Many schools in these areas did not have a library
earlier. The objective of this initiative is to encourage the
habit of reading in every child and give them the chance to
read a variety of books. In 2015, over 5,000 books were
‘Love of Reading
Libraries’ programme
implemented in 102
schools around 26
HUL manufacturing
locations
5,000>books were provided
through Prabhat's 'Love of
Reading Libraries' programme
provided to these libraries and our factory teams had the
first-hand experience of spreading this ‘love of reading’ by
leading the book donation drive in their respective locations.
9 HUL’s free mobile medical service camp near its Doom Dooma
Factory in Assam10
Ankur is a centre for special education for otherwise challenged
children at Doom Dooma in Assam
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODSUNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN – INDIA PROGRESS 2015
HUL received the
Sustainable Plus Gold Label
for FY 2015. This is based on
ESG (Environmental, Social,
Governance) analysis
conducted by CII’s Centre of
Excellence for Sustainable
Development (CESD).
Sustainable Plus was launched in 2012 to provide a
brand identity tool to companies in order to
communicate to various stakeholders that they are
sustainable, responsible and well governed as well as to
enable them to improve their sustainability performance.
Sustainable Plus is the world’s first and only corporate
sustainable label. It is based on comprehensive ESG
analysis of companies which helps them to measure
performance as well as identify risks that challenge
sustainability of their business.
This recognition reinforces our commitment to 'making
sustainable living commonplace'.